A Perspective on “Bridging the Gap”

I feel so blessed to have been a part of Bridging the Gap! It was a wonderful time of encouragement in my faith and also a time of personal stretching and challenge. I’m relatively new to the Memphis area, so I was unaware of many of the struggles unique to this city. Over the course of the weekend, I experienced just a taste of what it’s like to live in uncertainty and want, to not to know where I was going to sleep or whether I was going to eat and to be separated from the things I often take for granted.

Our Scripture passage for the weekend was 1 John 3:17-18: “If a person has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need and that person doesn’t care—how can the love of God abide in such a one? Let’s not love with words or speech but with action and truth.”

I saw a lot of gaps over the weekend. I saw gaps between rich and poor, between the educated and undereducated, between different races, between the saved and unsaved. But, I saw an even bigger gap in myself, a gap between the faith I professed with my mouth and the way I actually reach out to others in reality. So often I’ve focused on my own needs, worries and concerns that I’ve been too busy to notice or do anything about my “brother or sister in need.” This weekend opened my eyes and opened my heart. It inspired me to action. But, more importantly, it reminded me that it is the love of Christ abiding, living and working in us that really bridges the gaps. It is only when we remain in this amazing, gap-defying love that we can truly share it with others.